Waste processing systems common in the world today are nearly universally single-event partial combustion systems. These systems may combine both heat and pressure but they are typically brute force processes that either transform the waste material through the heat of incineration or gasify by partial combustion in a controlled oxidation process, either of which may be applied at elevated pressures. Even pyrolysis systems typically are implemented as bulk single-step events.
Pyrolysis and similar traditional processes all involve pre-combustion processes and combustion during the execution of the process. As such, they all include the products of combustion that must be cleaned or managed. The processes themselves are termed “oxygen deprived,” but that is only because the oxygen is actually used up in a combustion activity that is a part of the actual process, directly or indirectly.
Thermal energy is transferred to the feedstock in those traditional processes chiefly through convection and conduction. A very small percentage of the thermal energy is transferred through radiation because the processes usually involve combustion above or below the feed material, which is typically being heated by convective flow from the combustion. This means the “smoke” from the fire is used to heat the feed material to the point where light gases are driven out and “char” is broken down (to an extent).
In traditional systems, the gases formed are usually driven across metal catalysts that are heated by the process, typically to about 200° C. (˜400° F.). The hot catalysts seed chemical reactions that convert the molecular structures to “richer” gas forms (usually simpler molecular structures) more desirable for their energy content. Unfortunately, these metal catalysts quit working at about the temperatures where more efficient molecular “cracking” starts to happen, about 400° C. (˜750° F.).
By their physical and mechanical nature, these traditional processes are more “batch” than continuous. And they produce undesirable products as part of their fuel production and in the waste materials left behind. In the principal method disclosed in this patent, feedstock moves through a novel radiant energy process on a continuous basis. Systems analysis shows the method has application from small systems, transforming approximately 5 pounds of hydrocarbons per minute, to larger system transforming nearly 300 pounds of hydrocarbon feedstock per minute. Total capacity exceeding this rate can be achieved using multiple installations.